FSDreamTeam forum
Products Support => GSX Support FSX/P3D => Topic started by: WebMaximus on February 03, 2012, 07:40:40 pm
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Just tried installing GSX and when it comes to the part of the installation where it starts downloading additional files my AV software (Avast!) triggered a virus warning as seen below and when I tried continue with the installation using local files I got this other error message and at that point I decided to abort the installation and can only hope I don't have any virus infection now...
Installed GSX using the same setup file on the same PC a couple of days ago with no problems or virus warnings, what happened...??
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/WebMaximus/GSXvirus.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/WebMaximus/GSXvirus.jpg)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/WebMaximus/GSXvirus2.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/WebMaximus/GSXvirus2.jpg)
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Your antivirus is wrong, you shouldn't believe anything that antivirus products says, they use questionable heuristic methods only to advertise being able to catch more virus than the competition.
Either turn off the antivirus, and follow the message that has been posted countless number of times:
- DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL with the antivirus entirely OFF
- Uninstall GSX. Reply YES when asked if you want to remove the Addon Manager and the Couatl Engine. Reply YES to both questions.
- TURN OFF your antivirus. Don't just exit from its interface, but turn off the real time protection. Actual wording changes between products, however, it's the option to scan every file that gets open in real time, without user intervention.
- Reinstall GSX with the Antivirus TURNED OFF. Don't launch FSX yet.
- Configure the antivirus to exclude the following files from scanning:
YourFSXFolder\bglmanx.dll
YourFSXFolder\fsdreamteam\Couatl\couatl.exe
YourFSXFolder it's usually C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X, if you installed it in the default folder.
- Now you can turn the antivirus back on, and launch FSX.
- Check you are seeing BOTH the "Addon Manager" menu AND the "Couatl powered products" menu under the "Addons" menu
Or, much better, switch to an antivirus that works and doesn't mistakenly flag legit programs as threats, like the FREE and always updated Microsoft Security Essentials.
What has probably happened, is that your antivirus has been updated, and it now mistakenly detect the executable as a threat.
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Thanks for your quick response!
I do know AV software can sometimes give you false alarms and I've been using quite a bunch of different AV software the past 10-15 years and MSSE is one of them but I decided to go with Avast! since that one very seldomly in my experience gives you false alarms and I've never before had a virus alert for a payware software so hence my reaction.
Surely I can turn Avast! OFF but before I do so I will try to get some more information about this particular alert. When the files the GSX installation program is trying to download seem to be located on an external site (Dropbox) do you still feel 100% sure none of the file could have been infected out of your control...?
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I decided to go with Avast! since that one very seldomly in my experience gives you false alarms and I've never before had a virus alert for a payware software so hence my reaction.
Googling "Avast false positve" gives 570.000 results back so, it's not really uncommon.
Surely I can turn Avast! OFF but before I do so I will try to get some more information about this particular alert. When the files the GSX installation program is trying to download seem to be located on an external site (Dropbox) do you still feel 100% sure none of the file could have been infected out of your control...?
There's an easy way for you to be sure the file is the same as we distribute it, and is to check its Digital Signature, by right-clicking on the executable file, select "Properties", select the "Digital Signature" tab, click on "Details" and check if it's valid.
If it is, you can be sure the file hasn't been altered in any way, either externally, or in your system.
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OK, thanks!
I did what you suggested and the digital signature was reported as OK.
I posted about this in Avast! support forums and told there might be a false alarm and I will also report back this...that the digital signature is reported as OK. Hopefully they will fix this because I don't think I'm the only GSX customer running the latest version of Avast! considering it's a quite popular AV software for several reasons one that it leaves a very light footprint on your system compared to many other AV applications.